Paper box structure

ABSTRACT

A paper box structure formed of a paper material includes a bottom plate, a front plate, a rear plate, two side plates, a partition plate and a cover plate. The front plate is connected to one side of the bottom plate to form a front wall. The rear plate is connected to one side of the bottom plate opposite to the front plate to form a buffer space as a rear wall. Two side plates are connected to another two opposite sides of the bottom plate to form buffer spaces as side walls. A frame body is formed from the front plate, rear plate and side plates. The partition plate is disposed within the frame body to divide the frame body into upper and lower portions. The cover plate covers the buffer space formed by the bottom plate and the rear plate, and then the top of the frame body.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is based on, and claims priority from, TaiwanApplication Serial Number 96129855, filed Aug. 13, 2007, the disclosureof which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a paper box structure.

2. Description of Related Art

As shown in FIG. 1, for fabricating a conventional paper box, a sideplate 200′, a connecting tongue plate 210′ and a plurality of wingplates 300′ are formed on a paper board, and then the side plate 200′and the connecting tongue plate 210′ are connected to form a ductstructure by adhering or stapling, and thereafter an adhering orstapling method is used to close the open ends of the duct structurewith the wing plates 300′. Further, for fabricating a box structureincluding a handle part as shown in FIG. 2, two through holes 301′ and asupporting structure 302′ are formed at the upper side of the box body,thereby forming a handle part 400′ disposed at those two through holes301′, and a plurality of wing parts 103′ located at the lower side ofthe box body are designed to be the structures which can be engaged witheach other, so that a tubular structure with an open end at the lowerside can be formed from the side plate 201′ without adhering orstapling. Further, while fragile products such as high precisionelectronic products and glass products are placed in the aforementionedbox body, the box body has to be filled with buffer material such asStyrofoam and sponge for protecting the product disposed therein.

However, in the aforementioned box body structure, at least one area hasto be applied with the method of adhering or stapling while beingassembled. Thus, besides the material of the box body itself, theelements such as adhesive and pins have to be prepared, thus increasingfabrication cost. On the other hand, the handle part and the buffermaterial are generally made of plastic material which leads toenvironmental issue when they cannot be reused or recycled.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a paper box structurefor fixing the relative positions of the respective parts of the boxwithout relying on adhesive and stapling pins, thereby loweringfabrication cost and satisfying environmental requirements.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a paper boxstructure for merely using a thin sheet material such as a paper boardto form a box body used for accommodating an article and a buffer spaceresisting the impact to the article received therein.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a paper boxstructure for sufficiently using a buffer space to place small articles.

In accordance with the aforementioned aspects, the box structure of thepresent invention is formed by folding a thin sheet of paper material,and comprises a bottom plate, a front plate, a rear plate, two sideplates, a first partition plate and a cover plate. The front plate isconnected to one side of the bottom plate to form a front wall. The rearplate is connected to another side of the bottom plate opposite to thefront plate to form a first buffer space as a rear wall. The two sideplates are connected to another two opposite sides of the bottom plateto form second buffer spaces as side walls. The front plate, the rearplate and the two side plates are connected to form a frame body. Thefirst partition plate is disposed within the frame body to divide aninternal space of the frame body into upper and lower portions. Thecover plate covers the first buffer space formed by the bottom plate andthe rear plate, and the top of the frame body.

In the paper box structure of the present invention, the bottom platecomprises a support plate connected to an edge thereof, wherein thesupport plate is folded protrusively to form a third buffer space belowthe bottom plate, preferably.

In the paper box structure of the present invention, a protrusive plateis formed on an edge of the first partition plate, and a slot is formedon the front plate and/or the rear plate, and the protrusive plate isused to engage with the slot for fixing the first partition plate,preferably.

In the paper box structure of the present invention, the cover platecomprises a tongue plate connected to an edge thereof, and a slot isformed on the front plate corresponding to the tongue plate when thepaper box structure is closed, preferably.

In the paper box structure of the present invention, the rear platecomprises a door plate and/or a second partition plate formed by cuttingthe rear plate and only one side of the door plate is connected to therear plate; or an opening formed by cutting the rear plate, wherein theopening is connected with the first buffer space.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are examples, and are intended toprovide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 illustrates both a 3-D diagram of a conventional paper box and anexpanded planar diagram for fabricating the paper box;

FIG. 2 illustrates both a 3-D diagram of another conventional paper boxand an expanded planar diagram for fabricating the paper box;

FIG. 3 is an expanded planar diagram for fabricating a paper boxstructure formed of a thin sheet of paper material according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a 3-D diagram showing a paper box structure at a close stateaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a 3-D diagram showing the paper box structure at an open stateaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a 3-D diagram showing the partition plates at an open stateaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an expanded planar diagram for fabricating a paper boxstructure formed of a thin sheet of paper material according to a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a 3-D diagram showing the paper box structure at an open stateaccording to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a 3-D diagram showing the partition plates at an open stateaccording to the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a 3-D diagram showing the rear plate at a partially openstate according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, the thought of the present invention will be clearlyexplained through the detailed description with reference to thedrawings.

An expanded planar diagram as shown in FIG. 3, the dash-dot line “- - -”represents a mountain fold line, wherein the portions at both sides ofthe mountain fold line are folded to be convex outwards, therebyprotruding the mountain fold line; a dash line “- - - - - -” representsa valley fold line, wherein the portions at both sides of the valleyfold line are folded to be concave inwards, thereby recessing the valleyfold line; a dot line “ . . . ” is used as a hinge of a door plate foropening a buffer space formed by folding, wherein the buffer space isused for receiving small articles. Accordingly, the expanded planardiagram shown in FIG. 3 can be folded to form a box body as shown inFIG. 4, FIG. 5, or FIG. 6, and there is no specific limitation to thefolding steps. The oblique lines shown in FIG. 3 are merely used forclearly showing the configuration and empty portions in the diagram, anddo not intend to limit the paper material orientation or any otheritems.

Concretely speaking, a thin sheet of paper material is first used toform the pattern shown in FIG. 3, and the forming method thereby is notspecifically limited, for example, conventional methods such as moldpressing, cutting, etc, can be adopted. The thin sheet of paper materialitself is not particularly limited, as long as the material has aspecific strength, foldable and not being damaged easily. The thin sheetof paper material can be made of single-layer or multiple-layer ofcorrugated paper, carton paper or plastic or metal sheet. In view of theprocessing and environmental protection, corrugated paper is preferred.

The pattern shown by FIG. 3 comprises a bottom plate 100; a front plate200 connected to the upper side of the bottom plate 100 as a front wall;side plates 300 connected to the left and right sides of the bottomplate 100 as side walls; a rear plate 400 connected to the lower side ofthe bottom plate 100 as a rear wall; a cover plate 500 extendingupwards; and inner partition plates 600 which are connected to therespective side plates 300 and extend towards the left and right.

The front plate 200 comprises side enhancing plates 210 connected to theleft and right sides of the front plate 200. After being folded, theenhancing plates 210 stand upright on the left and right sides of thebottom plate 100.

The rear plate 400 comprises side enhancing plates 410 to two oppositesides of the rear plate 400. As shown in FIG. 6, after folding the rearplate 400 in accordance with the aforementioned mountain and valley foldlines, two buffer spaces arranged in a front-to-rear sequence areformed, and the enhancing plates 410 stands on two opposite sides of therear buffer space for not only enhancing the sides of the rear bufferspace but also closing the openings at the sides thereof. Forsufficiently taking advantage of these two buffer spaces, the rear plate400 comprises an opening 420 and door plates 430, 440 and 450. Theopening 420 and the door plates 430, 440 and 450 are disposed at theproper positions by cutting the thin sheet material of the rear plate400. Just as described above, the door plates 430, 440 and 450 areconnected to the rear plate 400 and the connections area therebetweenare used as hinges, and thus the articles received in the buffer spaceformed by folding the rear plate 400 can be briefly accessed via thoseopening and door plates. Further, the rear plate 400 also comprisesenhancing plates 470 connected to the left and right sides of the rearplate 400, and the enhancing plates 470 stand on two opposite sides ofthe front buffer space for not only enhancing the sides of the frontbuffer space but also closing the openings at the sides thereof. Each ofthe enhancing plates 470 is provided with a slot 480. and the other sideof the connection between the aforementioned side enhancing plate 210and front plate 200 is provided with a corresponding tongue plate 220.The tongue plate 220 is inserted into the slot 480, thereby fixing therelative positions between the front plate 200 and one portions of therear plate 400.

After being folded, the side plates 300 cover the side enhancing plates410, the side enhancing plates 210 and the enhancing plates 470 to formbuffer spaces 390. Further, support plates 110 are formed respectivelybetween the bottom plate 100 and the two side plates 300. In thisembodiment, the support plates 110 are consecutively formed between therespective bottom plates 100 and side plates 300. After being foldedalong the fold lines shown in FIG. 3, the support plates 110 are liftedtowards the bottom of the bottom plate 100 so as to suspend the bottomplate 100 for forming a buffer space below the bottom plate 100.

After being folded, the partition plates 600 extended from therespective side plates 300 are located at the inner edges of the boxstructure, i.e. the inner edges where the partition plates 600 arelocated divide a internal space, which is come from a frame body formedby the front plate 200, the rear plate 400 and the two side plates 300,into the upper and lower levels. For fixing the positions of thepartition plates 600, it is desirable to provide protrusive plates 610and corresponding slots 260 (and 460) on the proper positions of theupper and lower edges of the partition plates 600 and on the inner edgesof the front plate 200 (and rear plate 400), respectively. therebyfixing the positions of the partition plates 600 via the engagements ofthe protrusive plates 610 and the slots 260 (and 460). For maintainingthe engagements of the protrusive plates 610 and the slots 260 and 460at a predetermined strength but also allowing the engagements thereof tobe released easily, the extension length of each protrusive plate 610 ispreferably about equal to the thickness of the thin sheet material.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, after being folded, the cover 500 coversthe buffer spaces formed by the bottom plate 100 and the rear plate 400,and thereafter covers the top of the box structure, thereby closing thebox structure. A tongue plate 520 is connected to the upper edge of thecover plate 500, and a slot 250 is provided on the correspondingposition of the front plate 200, so that the tongue plate 520 can beinserted into the slot 250 for securing the cover plate 500 when thecover plate 500 is at a close state.

FIG. 7 to FIG. 10 illustrate a second embodiment of the presentinvention. Such as an expanded planar diagram shown in FIG. 7, thedash-dot line “- - -” represents a mountain fold line, wherein theportions at both sides of the mountain fold line are folded to be convexoutwards, thereby protruding the mountain fold line; a dash line“- - - - - -” represents a valley fold line, wherein the portions atboth sides of the valley fold line are folded to be concave outwards,thereby recessing the valley fold line. In accordance with the foldingmethod described above, the development diagram shown in FIG. 7 can befolded to form a box body as shown in FIG. 8, FIG. 9, or FIG. 10, andthere is no specific limitation to the folding steps. Similarly, theoblique lines shown in FIG. 7 are merely used for clearly showing theconfiguration and empty portions in the development diagram, and do notintend to limit the paper material orientation or any other items.

The pattern shown by FIG. 7 comprises a bottom plate 101; a front plate201 connected to the upper side of the bottom plate 101 as a front wall;partition plates 601 respectively connected to the left and right sidesof the bottom plate 101; a rear plate 401 connected to the lower side ofthe bottom plate 101 as a rear wall; a cover plate 501 extendingupwards; and side plates 301 connected to the left and right sides ofthe cover plate 501 as side walls.

The front plate 201 comprises side enhancing plates 231 connected to theleft and right sides of the front plate 201. After being folded, theenhancing plates 231 stand upright on the left and right sides of thebottom plate 101, and at the connection between the front plate 201 andthe side plates 301.

As shown in FIG. 8, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, after folding the rear plate401, a buffer space is formed. For sufficiently taking advantage of thisbuffer space, the rear plate 401 comprises partition plates 411 andnotches 421 thereon. Correspondingly, notches 431 are formed on theother side of the rear plate 401 opposite to the bottom plate 101. Afterfolding the rear plate 401, the respective notches 421 and the notched431 are engaged with each other, thereby not only fixing the sidesbetween the partition plates 411 and the rear plate 401; enhancing thebuffer space formed by the rear plate 401, but also dividing the bufferspace into two portions for advantageously receiving small articles.

Support plates 111 are formed on the respective sides of the bottomplate 101, i.e. the connection edge between the bottom plate 101 and thefront plate 201; the connection edge between the bottom plate 101 andthe rear plate 401; and the respective connection edges between thebottom plate 101 and the two partition plates 601. In this embodiment,the support plates 111 are formed at the central portions of therespective sides of the bottom plate 101. As shown in FIG. 7, when thebottom plate 101 is folded along the valley fold lines, the supportplates 111 are lifted towards the bottom of the bottom plate 101 so asto suspend the bottom plate 101 for forming a buffer space below thebottom plate 10, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.

After folding the side plates 301, the side plates 301 would cover boththe outer sides of the partition plates 601 and the enhancing plates 231and close the open ends of a buffer space formed by folding the rearplate 401 to form a buffer space. Slots 311 are formed on the sideplates 301 respectively, and protrusive plates 441 are formed on thecorresponding positions of the rear plate 401. The protrusive plates 441can be inserted into the respective slots 311 for fixing the bufferspaces formed by folding the side plates 301.

After being folded, the partition plates 601 extended from the bottomplate 101 are located at the inner edges of the box structure, i.e. theinner edges where the partition plates 601 are located divide a internalspace, which is come from a frame body formed by the front plate 201,the rear plate 401 and the two side plates 301, into the upper and lowerlevels. For fixing the positions of the partition plates 601, thestructures similar to the protrusive plates 610 and slots 260 and 460 asshown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 can be provided.

As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, after being folded, the cover plate 501covers the buffer spaces formed by the bottom plate 101 and the rearplate 401, and thereafter covers the top of the box structure, therebyclosing the box structure. A tongue plate 521 is connected to the upperedge of the cover plate 501, and a slot 251 is provided-on thecorresponding position of the front plate 201, so that the tongue plate521 can be inserted into the slot 251 for securing the cover plate 501when the cover plate 501 is at a close state.

Various application examples can be applied within the scope of thetechnical thought of the present invention. For example, the actual sizeof the box structure can be determined in accordance with the sizes ofthe articles desired to be received therein. The embodiments shown inthe respective figures are the box structures in substantiallyleft-right symmetry, but the box structure of the present invention alsocan be formed unsymmetrically due to actual situations. For example, inthe aforementioned embodiments, two partition plates are disposed todivide the inner space of the box structure into the upper and lowerportions, but the present invention also can merely dispose a longerpartition plate on one side of the box structure for obtaining the upperand lower spaces inside the box structure. The upper and lower spacesdivided by the partition plate are not limited to specific heights, andcan be the same or different in height due to actual applications. Onthe other hand, with regard to the applications of the space inside thebox structure of the present invention, for example, a notebook computercan be received between the bottom plate 100 or 101 and the partitionplates 600 or 601; a thinner user manual can be placed into the spaceabove the partition plates 600 or 601; the buffer spaces formed by therear plate 400 or 401 and the side plates 300 or 301 can be used toaccommodate smaller accessories such as a transformer, a earphone and amouse, etc.; and the buffer space formed between the lower surface ofthe bottom plate 100 or 101 and the cover plate 500 or 501 can be usedto receive a thinner article. Accordingly, such application examplesshould be fall within the scope of the following claims.

It can be known from the aforementioned embodiments, the application ofthe present invention has the following advantages:

1. all of the parts are formed from s thin sheet of paper material, andno extra parts have to be fabricated, thus simplifying the fabricationsteps;

2. the relative positions of the respective parts of the box structurecan be fixed without using adhesive and pins, thus saving cost andmeeting environmental requirements;

3. the buffer space is formed directly from the thin sheet of papermaterial, and no extra buffer material is needed;

4. the box body itself is used to form a support surface for disposingarticles; and

5. the buffer spaces are sufficiently used for disposing small articles.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A paper box structure formed of a paper material, comprising: abottom plate; a front plate connected to one side of the bottom plate toform a front wall; a rear plate connected to one side of the bottomplate opposite to the front plate to form a first buffer space as a rearwall; two side plates connected to another two opposite sides of thebottom plate to form second buffer spaces as side walls, wherein thefront plate, the rear plate and the two side plates are connected toform a frame body; a first partition plate disposed within the framebody to divide an internal space of the frame body into upper and lowerportions; and a cover plate covering the first buffer space and the topof the frame body.
 2. The paper box structure as claimed in claim 1,further comprising: a support plate connected to an edge of the bottomplate, wherein the support plate is folded protrusively to form a thirdbuffer space below the bottom plate.
 3. The paper box structure asclaimed in claim 1, wherein a protrusive plate is formed on an edge ofthe first partition plate, and a slot is formed on the front plateand/or the rear plate; and the protrusive plate is used to engage withthe slot for fixing the first partition plate.
 4. The paper boxstructure as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a tongue plateconnected to an edge of the cover plate, and a slot is formed on thefront plate corresponding to the tongue plate when the paper boxstructure is closed.
 5. The paper box structure as claimed in claim 1,wherein the rear plate comprises a door plate, wherein the door plate isformed by cutting the rear plate and only one side of the door plate isconnected to the rear plate.
 6. The paper box structure as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the rear plate has an opening, wherein the opening isformed by cutting the rear plate and is connected with the first bufferspace.
 7. The paper box structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein therear plate comprises a second partition plate, wherein the secondpartition plate is formed by cutting the rear plate and only one side ofthe second partition plate is connected to the rear plate.